Ski-carrier module with module attachment apparatus

ABSTRACT

A ski-carrier module and module attachment apparatus for attaching the ski-carrier module to the bars of a pre-existing modular vehicle roof rack system. The ski-carrier module comprises upward-facing ski pole receptors placed on a lower arm thereby simplifying insertion of ski poles into a ski rack, as well as a hinge assembly capable of being locked and unlocked into multiple raised positions enabling the insertion of skis and ski poles into the ski-carrier module unobstructed by the position of the upper arm of the ski-carrier module. The attachment apparatus for attaching the module to a roof rack bar comprising two wrap-around attachment anchors which are placed around the roof rack bar and then inserted into their corresponding anchor head aperture and anchor head slot. The aperture and slot are located on the underside of the lower arm of the module. The anchor head being designed to tighten the grip of the attachment anchor around the roof rack bar when the aperture is rotated, and the anchor head being designed to tighten the grip of the attachment anchor around the roof rack bar when the anchor head is inserted further into the anchor head.

This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/747,938, filed Nov. 12,1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,090, which is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 08/551,379, filed Nov. 1, 1995, now issued as U.S.Pat. No. 5,573,160, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.08/025,313, filed Mar. 1, 1993, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,621,the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to vehicle roof-mounted rack attachments, andmore particularly to a modular vehicle roof rack ski-carrier module andmodule attachment apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

As many people are now aware, the difficulty or inconvenience ofcarrying oversized objects in a vehicle has been mitigated through theuse of modular vehicle roof rack systems which allow oversized objectsto be carried on the roof-top of a vehicle.

A modular vehicle roof rack system comprises (1) two parallel barsmounted to a vehicle roof-top, (2) a plurality of modules or adapterswhich allow for different objects to be carried on the roof top, and (3)an attachment apparatus for attaching or anchoring the modules oradapters to the parallel bars.

More specifically, a modular vehicle roof rack system comprises twoparallel bars laterally placed and longitudinally spaced across avehicle roof-top, along with interchangeable modules which attach to thebars of the roof rack. The bars act as a supporting foundation for theattachment and detachment of different types of modules. Theinterchangeable modules allow the user to carry different types ofoversized objects on the roof of the vehicle which might otherwise bedifficult or inconvenient to fit inside the vehicle. Various modularattachments which are presently available allow the user to carrydifferent objects such as skis, surfboards, canoes, bicycles, etc.

The benefits of carrying skis in a modular vehicle roof rack system, andthe existence of such a modular vehicle roof rack system as describedabove are well known in the art. However, there are some disadvantageswith the existing designs.

For example, in order to carry a different type of oversized object, theuser must first remove the presently attached module, and then attach adifferent module to the parallel roof rack bar. The convenience ofhaving interchangeable attachments is substantially lost by theinconvenience involved in making such changes. Some models even requirethe user to detach the bars from its car mount so that the module, whichis to be replaced, may be slid off the bar and replaced with a differentmodule. Furthermore, many of the designs presently available eitherrequire tools to detach and attach various different modules or arepoorly designed in that the module attaching device is unnecessarilycomplex and expensive to manufacture. U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,362illustrates the level of complexity of design to which those in the arthave gone to create a mounting device.

Another disadvantage with the existing designs deals with a ski rack'sinability to carry ski poles in a simple and convenient manner. U.S.Pat. No. 4,720,031 attempts to solve this problem, but fails to do so ina simple and convenient manner. In the 1031 design, rectangularapertures which were designed to hold the ski poles in place are locatedon the upper arm of the ski rack. This design forces the user to balancethe ski poles in position until the upper arm can be quickly closedbefore the ski poles fall out of position. This race against gravity isnot always won by the user, and the user is thus forced to re-positionthe ski poles in another attempt.

A further disadvantage of the existing designs deals with the hingeassembly used to connect the upper and lower arms of the ski racks. Manyprior designs incorporate a spring mechanism which causes the upper armto pop up when the lock assembly is released. However, this springserves no further purpose. The user eventually had to throw the upperarm past the vertical or constantly hold up the upper and in a raisedposition in order to insert the skis into the ski rack unobstructed. Themetal springs used in these prior existing designs also tend to rust orcorrode, leading to further uselessness.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a modular vehicle roof rack ski-carriermodule, and an improved method for attaching the module to a vehiclerack using a module attachment apparatus.

A modular vehicle rack is usually mounted on the roof of a vehicle,although it is possible for the rack to be placed elsewhere. While themodule of the present invention is an improved ski carrier, the moduleattachment or anchoring apparatus may be used to attach variousdifferent modules to the roof rack bar, including but not limited to aflat ski-carrier module.

Therefore, although the module and module attachment apparatus of thepresent invention embodies a modular vehicle roof rack ski-carriermodule, the scope of the present invention is not limited to vehicleracks which are only roof-mounted, nor is the present invention limitedto modules which can only accommodate skis.

Presently, interchangeable roof rack attachments are either difficult toattach and detach or they are complex and expensive. The module andmodule attachment apparatus of the present invention are neither. Theattachment or anchoring apparatus of the present invention uses a coupleof simple wrap-around attachment anchors for attaching various types ofinterchangeable roof rack modules to the parallel bars of a vehicle roofrack system. In a preferred embodiment, no tools are required to attachor detach an interchangeable module, and the manufacture of awrap-around attachment anchor is simple and inexpensive.

The wrap-around attachment anchors may be made of a tough, yet flexiblestrip of a nylon composite which can be spread open enough to place thewrap-around attachment anchor around a roof rack bar, thereby being inposition to act as an anchor for an interchangeable module. In apreferred embodiment, no nuts or bolts are used, so a person withlimited manual dexterity (which may result from cold hands, or glovesbeing worn) will still be able to attach or detach a module quitesimply. The wrap-around attachment anchors may be varied in length,thereby changing the diameter of the attachment anchors, in order to fitsnugly around roof rack bars of varying thickness. In other words, thesimplicity of the design makes it easy to produce custom versions tomatch different roof rack bar profiles, thus enabling the sameattachment apparatus concept to be applied to a wide variety of vehicleroof rack systems.

Once the ski-carrier module is simply and efficiently attached to theroof rack bar, the user will notice additional improvements in theski-carrier module itself. Until now, when a user was ready to placeskis into the carrier, the user either had to throw the upper arm of theski carrier past the vertical or keep the upper arm in a raised positionwith one arm while inserting the skis with the other arm. With thepresent invention, a hinge assembly, which joins the upper and lowerarms of the ski carrier, is designed to allow a user to click the upperarm into a locking raised position through the use of apositioning-device abutment which supports the upper arm in apredetermined raised position. This will enable the user to insert skisinto the ski carrier without the upper arm causing an obstruction. Whenall the skis and ski poles which need to be inserted have been inserted,the upper arm may be lowered into its closed position by unlocking thehinge assembly with a downward force on the upper arm.

In a preferred embodiment, the hinge assembly may be easily modified toallow the upper arm to be locked into multiple raised positions bychanging the design of a hinge assembly positioning-device abutment toinclude additional position steps which would act as additional supportpositions for the upper arm.

Furthermore, the present invention allows for a simple and convenientway to carry ski poles in the ski-carrier module. Unlike the prior artwhich placed the pole receptor on the upper arm, the module of thepresent invention has upward-facing receptors for the ski poles locatedon the lower arm of the ski carrier. The module of the present inventionallows a user to insert both ski poles into a receptor on the bottom armand have them stay in that position until the upper arm is closed shut.The poles will not move around once inserted. With the pole receptors ofthe prior art being located in the upper arm, the poles had to be heldin position until the upper arm could be lowered into position.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an improvedmodular vehicle roof rack module attachment apparatus.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modularvehicle roof rack ski-carrier module.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modularvehicle roof rack ski-carrier module which has an improved hingeassembly thereby allowing the upper arm of the ski-carrier module to belocked into multiple raised positions.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modularvehicle roof rack ski-carrier module having an improved ski polecarrying design thereby allowing for simpler and more efficientinsertion and transportation of ski poles.

Further objects and advantages of the modular vehicle roof rackski-carrier module will become apparent from a consideration of thedrawings and ensuing description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle roof-top with a full set ofski-carrier modules attached to two laterally placed, longitudinallyspaced, parallel roof rack bars.

FIG. 2 is an elevational View of a ski-carrier module attached to a roofrack bar.

FIGS. 3a, b, c, d, e, f, g are cross-sectional views of a hinge assemblyin an exploded view (a), a closed position (b), a midraised openposition (c), a maximum locked raised open position (d), a closedposition for a multi-position hinge assembly (e) a preliminary lockedraised open position for a multi-position hinge assembly (f), and amaximum locked raised open position for a multi-position hinge assembly(g).

FIGS. 4a, b, c, d, e illustrate the steps involved in the moduleattachment method using a module attachment apparatus.

FIGS. 5a, b are perspective views of a wrap-around attachment anchorwithout fin-like protrusions (a) and with fin-like protrusions (b).

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a ski-carrier module attached to a roofrack bar, with skis and ski poles inserted.

FIG. 7 is perspective view of an interchangeable module, here a flatski-carrier module, attached to a roof rack bar.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a vehicle roof-top with two laterally placed andlongitudinally spaced parallel roof rack bars B1 and B2 are shown. Fourski-carrier modules 10 are shown attached to the roof rack bars B1 andB2 in an arrangement conventionally used by consumers. When oneski-carrier module 10 is being attached to a roof rack bar B, the methodand apparatus used is the same regardless of whether it is beingattached to the front bar B1 or the rear bar B2. Therefore, B mayrepresent either B1 or B2 when the attachment of a module 10 to a bar Bis discussed.

While four modules 10 are shown, it is understood that a user mayutilize the ski-carrier modules 10 of the present invention by using twomodules 10 which are paired together on the same side of the vehicleroof-top, one module 10 on the forward bar B1 and the other module 10 onthe rear bar B2. It is further understood that the ski-carrier module 10of the present invention is a separate self-contained element of amodular vehicle roof rack system.

Various types of interchangeable modules or adapters may be attached toa user's pre-existing vehicle roof rack bar B. An advantage of thepresent invention is that an attachment apparatus 12 (shown in FIG. 2)allows for a module to be attached to the pre-existing roof rack bar Bin a simpler and more efficient manner.

Consumers conventionally arrange the ski-carrier modules 10 such thatthe hinge-side of the ski-carrier module 10 is the side of the module 10which is to be placed closer to the center of a vehicle roof-top, andthe lock-side of the ski-carrier module 10 is the side of the module 10which is to be placed closer to the side-edge of a vehicle roof-top.

Turning now to FIG. 2, the ski-carrier module 10 and module attachmentapparatus 12 of the present invention are shown more clearly. Theski-carrier module 10 is attached to the roof rack bar B via theattachment apparatus 12. The ski-carrier module 10 comprises an upperarm 20 and a lower arm 22 which are connected at one end by a hingeassembly 24. The other end of the upper arm 20 and the lower arm 22 aredisconnected when in an open position, and are connected when in aclosed position by a locking assembly 26 used for locking the upper andlower arms 20 and 22 together in the closed position.

The upper and lower arms 20 and 22 together with the hinge and lockingassembly 24 and 26 define a carrier frame 28 within which a plurality ofsupport members 30, a plurality of compression members 32, and aplurality of upward-facing ski pole receptors 34 are arranged, as shownin FIG. 2, to accept and to hold securely in place a plurality of skisand ski poles. Other than the upward-facing ski pole receptors 34, theabove described arrangement is known in the prior art as disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,054,673. The upward-facing ski pole receptors 34 offeran advantage not known in the prior art, namely ease of use.

Referring to FIG. 3a, a cross-sectional view of the hinge assembly 24 isshown. The hinge assembly 24 comprises a hinge assembly outer housing70, and a hinge assembly outer housing abutment 72. The outer housing 70contacts the outer housing abutment 72 when the upper arm 20 reaches thedesigned maximum point of rotation. Internally, a hinge assembly pivot74 is the point about which the upper arm 20 rotates. A hinge assemblypivoting arm 76 is attached to the pivot 74 by a hinge assembly screw 80which goes through a hinge assembly positioning device 78. When theupper arm 20 is rotated, the pivoting arm 76, the pivot 74 and thepositioning device 78 all move as one component as shown in FIGS. 3c and3 d. A hinge assembly positioning-device abutment 82 is used to supportthe upper arm 20 in a locked raised position by acting as a support forthe positioning device 78 as shown in FIG. 3d. The outer housing 70 andthe pivoting arm 76 are attached to the upper arm 20. The outer housingabutment 72, the pivot 74, and the outer housing abutment 72 areattached to the lower arm 22. The positioning device 78 and the screw 80are separate pieces attached via the screw 80.

FIGS. 3e, 3 f, and 3 g show the movement of the hinge assembly asdescribed above except that the hinge assembly positioning-deviceabutment 82 is designed to allow the upper arm 20 to be locked intomultiple raised positions, rather than just one maximum locked raisedposition. FIG. 3f shows the hinge assembly 24 in a preliminary lockedraised position. Additional locking positions may be added by designingthe abutment 82 with an additional position step 84 for each additionaldesired locking position.

Referring to FIGS. 4a and 4 b, a module attachment apparatus 12 is usedto attach the ski-carrier module 10 (only the cross-sectional top viewof the lower arm 20 is shown in FIGS. 4b, c, d, and e) to the roof rackbar B. The module attachment apparatus.12 comprises a hinge-sidewrap-around attachment anchor 36 and a lock-side wrap-around attachmentanchor 38. Both anchors 36 and 38 are interchangeable, and are namedonly in accordance with the proper positioning of the individual anchor.

Referring to FIG. 5a for a moment, the hinge-side attachment anchor 36and the lock-side attachment anchor 38 are both C-shaped, and the endsof the “IC” may touch when tightened around a roof rack bar B (notshown). The ends of the attachment anchors 36 and 38 form a hinge-sidewrap-around attachment anchor head 50 and a lock-side wrap-aroundattachment anchor head 52 respectively. Positioned between thehinge-side anchor head 50 and the hinge-side anchor 36, and thelock-side anchor head 52 and the lock-side anchor 38, is a speciallydesigned hinge-side neck protrusion 51 and a specially designedlock-side neck protrusion 53 respectively. These protrusions 51 and 53are designed so that the attachment anchors 50 and 52 tighten around theroof rack bar B when the rectangular anchor head aperture 56 is rotatedaround the hinge-side neck protrusion 51, and when the lock-side neckprotrusion 53 is inserted further into the anchor head slot 58.

Additionally, as shown in FIG. 5b, the hinge-side and lock-sidewrap-around attachment anchors 36 and 38 may be designed to incorporatehinge-side fin-like protrusions 40 and lock-side fin-like protrusions 42respectively. These fin-like protrusions 40 and 42 provide a better gripon the anchors 36 and 38, thereby allowing a user to slide the lock-sideanchor 38 more firmly into the anchor head slot 58. The fin-likeprotrusions 40 and 42 are most useful on the lock-side anchor 38, butare placed on both since the anchors 36 and 38 are interchangeable. Thehinge-side or lock-side designation is given to an individual anchormerely by the placement of the anchor 36 or 38 on the roof rack bar B.

Referring back to FIG. 4b, an underside 54 (top view drawing unable toshow the underside) of the lower arm 22 is a reference to the bottomportion of the lower arm 22 which rests against the roof rack bar B. Theunderside 54 of the lower arm 22 has a rectangular anchor head aperture56 located on the hinge-side of the ski-carrier module 10 (onlycross-sectional top view of lower arm is shown), and an anchor head slot58 located on the lock-side of the ski-carrier module 10. Therectangular anchor head aperture 56 allows for the insertion of thehinge-side wrap-around attachment anchor head 50, and the anchor headslot 58 allows for the insertion of the lock-side wrap-around attachmentanchor head 52. The attachment apparatus 12 thereby enables theski-carrier module 10 to be attached to the vehicle roof rack bar B.

Referring to FIG. 4c, in a preferred embodiment, an L-shaped clamp 60may be placed against the hinge-side neck protrusion 51 as shown in FIG.4c, in order to assist in sliding the hinge-side anchor head 52 into theanchor head slot 58, if such additional assistance is required. Inanother preferred embodiment, the clamp 60 would not be required sincethe anchors 36 and 38 would incorporate fin-like protrusions 40 and 42to assist in sliding the hinge-side anchor head 52 into the anchor headslot 58.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, afurther understanding of the present invention may be gained by thefollowing discussion regarding the operation of a preferred embodiment.

OPERATION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The ski-carrier module 10 and module attachment apparatus 12 of thepresent invention may be attached to the parallel bars B1 and B2 of auser's existing vehicle roof rack system. It will be understood that thefollowing explanation of the attachment process for one of theski-carrier modules 10 will enable a user to attach any remainingmodules 10 in the conventional configuration as shown in FIG. 1.

To begin the attachment process, refer to FIG. 4a which shows twowrap-around attachment anchors 36 and 38, which are required for eachmodule, placed around the roof rack bar B. The attachment anchors 36 and38 should be spaced along the roof rack bar B such that the aperture 56and slot 58 of the ski-carrier module 10 may be placed properly over thecorresponding anchor heads 50 and 52 which are to be inserted into theaperture 56 and slot 58. The anchor placed closer to the center of thevehicle roof-top shall be referred to as the hinge-side wrap-aroundattachment anchor 36 and the anchor placed closer to the side-edge ofthe vehicle roof-top shall be referred to as the lock-side wrap-aroundattachment anchor 38.

Referring to FIG. 4b, the rectangular anchor head aperture 56 which islocated on the underside 54 (top view drawing unable to show theunderside) of the lower arm 22 is placed over the hinge-side wraparoundattachment anchor head 50. The hinge-side wrap-around attachment anchorhead 50 will only fit into the rectangular anchor head aperture 56 whenthe ski-carrier module 10 is perpendicular to the roof rack bar B.Referring to FIG. 4c, once the anchor head 50 is properly inserted intothe aperture 56, the module 10 is then rotated such that the lower arm22, as well as the entire module 10 (not shown), is brought parallel tothe roof rack bar B. The hinge-side neck protrusion 51 is designed witha semi-circular protrusion which forcibly tightens the grip of theattachment anchor 36 around the roof rack bar B upon rotation of theaperture 56 around the anchor head 50, thereby minimizing slippage ofthe attachment anchor 36 on the bar B.

Referring to FIG. 4d, once the hinge-side anchor head 50 is secured andthe module 10 is parallel to the roof rack bar B, the lock-sidewrap-around attachment anchor 38 is then slid into the anchor head slot58. This step may be accomplished with the help of an L-shaped clamp 60,as shown in FIG. 4c, if needed. Or, this step may be accomplished withthe assistance of fin-like protrusions 42 as shown in FIG. 5b. Thelock-side neck protrusion is designed such that the slot 58 tightensaround the lock-side neck protrusion 53 as the anchor head 52 is slidfurther into the anchor head slot 58. When the lock-side anchor head 52is securely in place, the module 10 has been successfully attached tothe vehicle's roof rack bar B via the attachment apparatus 12. Nowreferring to FIG. 5e, lowering the upper arm 20 into the closed positionand locking the upper and lower arms 20 and 22 together via the lockassembly 26, prevents any possibility of the lock-side anchor head 52from slipping out of the slot 58. This is because the lock assembly 26closes off the open side of the anchor head slot 58. Furthermore, whenthe ski-carrier module 10 is in the closed position, the anchor heads 50and 52 are not exposed, thereby preventing the removal of the module 10or any tampering with the attachment apparatus 12.

Once the ski-carrier module 10 is securely mounted onto the roof rackbar B, the ski-carrier module 10 is able to accommodate in a securemanner a plurality of skis and ski poles. By unlocking the lock assembly26, and raising the upper arm 20 into an open position, the speciallydesigned hinge assembly 24 will allow the user to click the upper arm 10into one of several different locking raised positions. This enables theuser to insert skis and ski poles into the ski-carrier 10 without theupper arm 10 being in a position to cause an obstruction.

The hinge assembly 24 comprises an outer housing 70, and an outerhousing abutment 72. The outer housing 70 contacts the outer housingabutment 72 when the upper arm 20 has been raised to its maximumdesigned height as shown in FIG. 3d. Internally, a hinge assembly pivot74 is the point about which the upper arm 20 rotates upwards. A hingeassembly pivoting arm 76 is attached to the pivot 74 by a hinge assemblyscrew 80 which goes through a hinge assembly positioning device 78. Ahinge assembly positioning-device abutment 82 rounds out the internalcomponents. When in the closed position, the hinge assembly 24 is asshown in FIG. 3b.

When the upper arm 20 is disconnected at one end from the lower arm 22by unlocking and releasing the lock assembly 26, the upper arm may beraised upward by rotating about the hinge assembly pivot 74. Asillustrated in FIGS. 3c and 3 d, when the upper arm 20 is raised, thehinge assembly positioning device begins to exert a force against theside of the hinge assembly positioning-device abutment 82. The abutment82 is made of a firm, but flexible material which allows the abutment toflex, thereby allowing the positioning device to continue rotating asshown in FIG. 3c. When the upper arm 20 has reached the lockingposition, the positioning device 78 has cleared the top of thepositioning-device abutment 82, and now exerts a downward force on thetop of the abutment 82, thereby keeping the upper arm in a locked raisedposition. The flex of the abutment 82 need only be firm enough towithstand the force of the weight of the upper arm 20 in order to keepit in a, raised position. This is so that upon exertion of additionaldownward force, the exerted force will unlock the positioning device 78and return the upper arm 20 to a closed or lower open position.

When the upper arm 20 is to be returned to the closed position, adownward force greater than the weight of the upper arm will flex thepositioning-device abutment 82 back far enough to allow for thepositioning device 78 to clear the top of the abutment 82, and return tothe closed position as shown in FIGS. 3c and 3 b.

It is understood that by designing the positioning-device abutment 82with additional position steps 84, the hinge assembly 24 can be made toclick locked into additional preliminary raised positions. The procedurewould be similar to that described above, except that the positioningdevice 78 would have more than one position upon which to use thepositioning-device abutment 82 as a support. A preliminary locked raisedposition is shown in FIG. 3f. In FIG. 3f, the positioning device 78 issupported by the intermediary position step 84 of the positioning-deviceabutment 82.

The upward-facing ski pole receptors 34 are shaped such that two skipoles may be inserted into the receptors 34 as shown in FIG. 6 and willremain in that position without the need for the user to hold themthere. The support member 30 is designed so that a pair of skis placedtogether sole-to-sole may be laid flat against the support member 30.The same procedure would be used to insert the remaining plurality ofskis and ski poles. When lowering the upper arm 10 into the closedposition, the user can click the hinge assembly 24 free, as describedabove, thereby allowing for the upper arm 10 to be lowered. When theupper arm 10 is lowered into the closed position, the compression member32 exerts a force upon the skis and the poles thereby securing the skisand ski poles for transport atop a moving vehicle. Other than theimproved ski pole receptor 34, the embodiment described above is knownin the art.

Thus, the reader will see that the ski-carrier module 10 and moduleattachment apparatus 12 of the present invention provides for a simplermethod of attaching various interchangeable modules to the bars B1 andB2 of a vehicle roof rack system, as well as providing for an improvedhinge assembly 24 and an improved ski pole receptor design which allowsski poles to be inserted and carried in a ski-carrier module more simplyand efficiently.

While the above description contains many specificities, these shouldnot be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, butrather as an exemplification of one preferred embodiment thereof. Manyother variations are possible. For example, the vehicle rack may bemounted onto the rear trunk of a vehicle rather than the roof-top. Inaddition, a single attachment anchor 36 or 38 may be designed as atwo-piece band which may be placed around the roof rack bar B byconnecting the two pieces together to form a “IC-shaped” attachmentanchor similar to that shown in FIGS. 5a and 5 b. Furthermore, themodule to be attached using the module attachment apparatus of thepresent invention could be any interchangeable module, and not justlimited to a module designed to carry skis in a diagonal position. Forexample, FIG. 7 illustrates a flat ski-carrier module attached to avehicle roof rack bar via the attachment apparatus.

Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by anyembodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legalequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A ski-carrier module comprising (a) an upper arm,(b) a lower arm, (c) said upper and lower arms connected at one end by ahinge and lock assembly, said hinge and lock assembly including a pivotarm operably coupled to an abutment, said abutment including a pluralityof steps, said pivot arm being able to abut individual steps of saidplurality of steps to releasably lock said upper arm into various raisedpositions, and wherein (d) said upper and lower arms connected atanother end via a locking assembly, (e) said upper and lower arms, andsaid hinge and lock assembly and said locking assembly defining acarrier frame within which are disposed, (f) a plurality of supportmembers, which are used to support a pair of skis placed sole-to-sole,and (g) a plurality of compression members, which are used to applypressure to the skis so as to minimize movement during transportation,and (h) a plurality of upward-facing ski pole receptors placed on saidlower arm thereby allowing for the insertion and transportation of skipoles in a simpler and more efficient manner.
 2. The ski-carrier moduleof claim 1, wherein said ski-carrier module is attached to a vehicleroof rack bar.
 3. The ski-carrier module of claim 1, wherein saidski-carrier module is attached to a vehicle roof rack bar via anattachment apparatus comprising two attachment anchors inserted into anaperture and a slot located on said underside of said lower arm.
 4. Aski-carrier module comprising an upper arm, a lower arm, and an abutmentconnected to said lower arm, said abutment including a plurality ofsteps, and a pivot arm attached to said upper arm and pivotallyconnected to said lower arm, said pivot arm being operably coupled tosaid abutment such that said pivot arm abuts individual steps of saidplurality of steps of said abutment to lock said upper arm into aplurality of raised positions relative to said lower arm.
 5. Theski-carrier module of claim 4 further comprising a second abutmentattached to said lower arm and operably coupled to said upper arm tolimit rotation of said upper arm relative to said lower arm.
 6. Theski-carrier module of claim 5 wherein said pivot arm, said upper arm,said abutment, and said second abutment operably cooperate to lock saidupper arm in a maximum raised position.
 7. The ski-carrier module ofclaim 4, wherein said ski-carrier module is attached to a vehicle roofrack bar.
 8. The ski-carrier module of claim 4, wherein said ski-carriermodule is attached to a vehicle roof rack bar via an attachmentapparatus comprising two attachment anchors inserted into an apertureand a slot located on said underside of said lower arm.
 9. A ski-carriermodule comprising an upper arm, a lower arm, said upper and lower armsconnected at one end by a hinge assembly, said hinge assembly being ableto lock said upper arm into various raised positions, and wherein saidski-carrier module is attached to a vehicle roof rack bar via anattachment apparatus comprising two attachment anchors inserted into anaperture and a slot located on said underside of said lower arm.
 10. Theski-carrier module of claim 9 wherein said hinge assembly comprises anabutment attached to said lower arm and a pivot arm attached to saidupper arm, said pivot arm being operably coupled to said abutment. 11.The ski-carrier module of claim 10 wherein said abutment comprises aplurality of steps.
 12. The ski-carrier module of claim 10 furthercomprising a second abutment attached to said lower arm, said secondabutment being operably coupled to said upper arm to limit rotation ofsaid upper arm relative to said lower arm.